Photo fun
Monday, 2 October 2023
I took this in portrait mode, then cranked the saturation for this post. That’s my mood after three loads of laundry (and more to go). Still, I had a fabulous day.
Musings
I’m smiling
Sunday, 1 October 2023
This pair of photos is from the beginning of our day…from the hotel portal…oh, and I should add this is an early urban motel, dating to 1957 according to the plaque (right), I kid you not.
…and a view from the bridge crossing the great Ohio R.
The rest of the day was chugging through miles, eventually with a podcast to entertain us, followed by anti-traffic-clog detours in the northern ATL suburbs, and whoosh, we made it home in good time. And home was fine, if a bit dusty and in need of an airing. Relatively nothing as far as problems, in my book.
Main and other events
Saturday, 30 September 2023
Before the day’s Main Event, we took a wander to see the most prominent local topographic situation—the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Here on the south/west bank, there are few driving access points because it’s a gigantic floodplain, very flat and marshy until it was drained. Here’s the Mississippi just below the confluence.
And here’s the Missouri just above the confluence. We had (and you have) to imagine the roily meeting of the flows from the two huge drainages.
Here’s the focal point for the Main Event religious rites. We all enjoyed the tone the Lady Rabbi took combining the necessary Hebrew with English explanations. Lovely and moving. One point she made was that we change and marriages change and we find ways to do that changing together—I thought that was wise and rarely mentioned.
After the ceremony we adjourned upstairs for cocktails and tasty appetizers, and the sunset gave us all a lovely glow. Soon, we went downstairs for a fabulous sit-down dinner. Then the third band, the dance band, got going, and so did the crowd. The most unusual and best thought-out-gift was, tadah, flip-flops for those who wanted to shed their fancy shoes and really dance. Boy, did we dance. I think the Proud Mary lasted almost fifteen glorious minutes. Woohoo!
Fun wedding, great couple, lovely sentiments, and and and.
Variety all day
Friday, 29 September 2023
We arose to dense fog. By the time we came across these wind turbines, just the up-tips were obscured.
Part of our route was along the present interstate incarnation of Route 66, and we found lovely displays in a rest area that included many metal logos.
The crowning event was socializing with a bride and groom and their loved ones at a pre-wedding barbecue at a brewery. Great combination! The B&G are both scientists, geneticists in fact. Perfect cupcake decoration, ¿no?
These three images are just a sample of the variety in our interesting experiences this day.
Assorted recharging
Thursday, 28 September 2023
On the road recharging—watch, phone, us (fabulous garden carrot amuse-bouche; “bar” entrée).
Apps can mean appetizers
Wednesday, 27 September 2023
The day began with bright promise. The sun crested the trees and I photoed and smiled.
After coffee and a sort-it-out pause, I fired up The Beast one last time, and slew grass here and there until the 2023 fuel was gone and gone. Then I stashed it in the garage for the winter.
Right at six we met up on the famous deck, across the road, for potluck. The sun was cloud-obscured and the wind kicked up. But we had stellar apps, shown, and later a lovely meal. Goodbye looms. Fall is more than merely in the air.
Hello, moon
Tuesday, 26 September 2023
Here’s my second photo with the Guru’s new phone. The wide framing is better than the first one’s zoomier perspective. That’s the moon, BTW. I will study the documentation to see if I could adjust this or that and get it to capture the shape of the bright moon properly.
Preternatural plant parts
Monday, 25 September 2023
Strange flash shot of the fern bed by the back door, with the fronds mostly removed (my late afternoon chore), and the not-fronds mostly left to stand tall. I didn’t snip them because I think they are interesting and rather otherworldly.
Glowing maple
Sunday, 24 September 2023
Uncle Dave’s maple is getting plenty of compliments, and deservedly so! I call it Uncle Dave’s maple because it’s a maple and he planted it.
Apple processing*
Saturday, 23 September 2023
Autumnal subsistance agriculture activity day…we made cider, which is unfermented, fresh apple juice. We all agreed that this was the most cider we had made at one time, at almost nineteen gallons.
We used this machine. Here’s where the apples are loaded. Not shown is prior apple collecting and washing. Also not shown is cleaning all the containers, and this mill.
Cranking the handle chips the apples. Gravity is crucial to depositing the chips in the bin inside a heavy-duty filter cloth.
Then, more cranking to squeeze the juice out of the chipped apples.
We created several wheelbarrow loads of compressed, dry apple chips.
The last major step is filtering the cider. This involves multiple washings of the filter cloth, as it gets clogged.
* Note that this is very different than yesterday’s Apple processing.